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The Oval of Christmas
The Oval of Christmas is the 18th episode of ShapeTales and the second holiday special of the series. Plot The episode is set in London in 1882. Cavis Appythart (Jimmy the Circle) and Millward Phelps (Alvin the Triangle) are jingle writers who decide to make their big break into musical theatre. While Millward is content to see their work featured on billboards and in newspapers, Cavis believes they can make a difference in crime-ridden London by staging a grand musical that will move the citizens to greater expressions of love. Their opportunity arises when Millward's Uncle Rectangle grants them the use of his theater on Christmas Eve. They plan the huge production of a new musical called "The Princess and the Plumber". However, with only three days left until Christmas Eve, they still need a script. Seymour Schwenk (Sullivan's and Gilbert's middle names), their friend and an inventor, shows up in an experimental rocket car (a direct reference to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) and delivers a box of light bulbs to them. Cavis maintains that if their production is glitzy and bright (electric lights are still a novelty at this time and were first introduced at the Savoy Theatre for Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience) then their show will be a bigger hit and reach more people. He plans to integrate the lights directly into the scenery itself. Cavis and Millward also need to convince the city's premiere talent, Constance Effie Pickering, to star in the lead role, and they need to get a commitment from Prince Calvin Joseph to attend the premiere. While Cavis and his assistant Bob Winston work on Pickering and the Prince, Millward works to complete the script. Everything eventually starts coming together, and Cavis starts feeling confident that their production will be a huge success. After noticing a flyer for a Christmas pageant planned to occur on the same night at a local church, Cavis goes to investigate. He observes Edmund Gilbert preparing a low-budget children's play, and concludes that it poses no threat to their production. However, the pageant intends to feature an object called the "Oval of Christmas". Wondering aloud about this as he leaves the church, Cavis is overheard by Arthur McHollingshead. Arthur, a historian, reveals that the Oval of Christmas is an ancient relic that has not been publicly displayed for 79 years. He rushes off with great excitement to report the news, which promptly makes the front-page headlines the next morning. Faced with the prospect of losing their audience, and in particular the Prince, to the church play, Cavis vows to make their own production greater and flashier. However, Cavis and Millward cannot convince Prince Frederick to attend their play instead of going to the church pageant. In desperation, the duo sneak into the church at night to steal what Cavis thinks is the Oval, but Milward says looks like a hare. They are caught, however, and narrowly escape from the aged "Moyer the Destroyer" who was left to guard the relic. With the Oval and the flashy lights, Cavis is certain that "The Princess and the Plumber" is now a guaranteed success. But during dress rehearsal, the excessive number of lights, which Seymour had warned were a fire hazard, ignite the curtains. The theater goes up in flames, taking with it the Oval of Christmas. As Cavis and Millward mope over this terrible turn of events, a police officer named Dwiglight Howarde arrives with Moyer LaGumtree to arrest them for stealing the Oval. In the jail, they meet a prisoner, Charles Pincher, who laughs at their efforts to spread love by means of an elaborate stage production. He claims that real love makes sacrifices to help others without expecting anything in return and is extremely rare. As if on cue, Edmund and his father, Reverend Gilbert, arrive at the jail to release Cavis and Millward, having chosen out of love not to press charges for the theft of the Oval. Cavis is moved, and he expresses his desire to attend the pageant. However, the pageant is scheduled to start in ten minutes and there is not enough time to walk there. Just then, Seymour arrives in his rocket car. He entrusts Millward to drive the vehicle and try to get them all to the church on time. After a harrowing ride fraught with collisions and near-misses, Cavis, Millward, Edmund, and Reverend Gilbert arrive at the church just as the pageant is about to start. The play is a success, with Prince Joseph and Miss Pickering in attendance. Cavis finally learns that Christmas is not about glitz and grand productions, but about a baby in a manger, Jesus, who is the real "Oval of Christmas". After the play, Moyer shows Cavis and Millward that the real Star of Christmas (the object) is actually safe and that the duo actually stole the Hare of Damascus, which most experts consider to be a hoax. The episode ends with Cavis and Millward performing a selfless act at last: they bring cookies and a gift to Charles Pincher in his jail cell, and Cavis says, smiling warmly, "Merry Christmas, Mr. Pincher". Moral *True love is putting someone else's needs above yours. *Don't take other people's stuff without their permission. Trivia *Dental wax (commonly known as orthodontic wax) is used to prevent and treat irritation between the lips, gums and cheeks. *A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry. *The numbers on the church represent the date when Brian Roberts was married. *In the storyboards, it was Pyramid 2 that was pulling the wagon instead of 3 Pyramid #3 appeared in the show. *The street names Annie had to place more posters were Charles Street, Cross Street, Carnaby and Pudding Lane. *The scene of Millward falling from his seat was done by Jeffery Croke. *This was the first episode for several things: **The first episode not composed by Kurt Heinecke. **The first episode Jackie Ritz voices both Little Trixie and Madame Triangle. **The first episode Chuck Vollmer and Joe Spadaford worked on. *This was the last episode for several things: **The last episode for Shelbey Vischer to voice Annie. **The last episode Robert Ellis worked on. **The last Christmas episode until Saint Petersburg: A Story of Joyful Giving. **The last Christmas episode to be filmed in 4:3. *The poster for the Christmas pageant was done by Melissa Reale. She used cut potatoes and used them as stamp, but she cut herself while making it. *According to Tim, most of the production team was from 3-2-1 Walruses, with a mix of the crew from Comma-Man: A ShapeTales Movie. *This is the second time Alvin had a bruised eye. The first was in QBT Alvin and the Gruesome Robot. *The numbers on Cavis and Milward's plaques are the actual birth dates of both Mike Vischer and Phil Nawrocki. *Even though there are songs in the special, it's not a musical. It's a film about producing a musical. *Cavis and Millward were injured from after escaping the theater, but their injuries vanished after being bonded out. *After the rocketcar passed the Tradesman with the wagon of hats, he was seen again when Millward was going through the second street. *The portrait of Effie Pickering is clearly a still image if you watch this special on a computer. *As Mike stated in the commentary, Prince Fredrick wasn't the crown prince at the time. The reason why was because he didn't want to portray the real crown prince as a Latin cylinder. *This the first Christmas episode not to include a Goofy Song, although the PBS Kids broadcast included Oh, Santa! in between. *The fireplace in the office is the same one from Grandmum's Cottage, which contained the penguin figurines. *On the pillar with the poster for the Christmas pageant, you can see a poster of Stanley on the left and a poster of Uncle Blobb's carnival on the right. *The dishes Jerry gives to the prisoners are omelets. *The Royal Theater Millward was talking about Gaiety Theatre. That was also where Sir William Schwenck Gilbert's Robert the Devil. *The music that was playing in the climax is parallel to the Mission Impossible series. *We would see later what Cavis and Millward did to repay the damage they caused for burning down Rectangle's Theater. *Jimmy would make another sinister smile in a ShapeTales in the House episode. Goofs *Cavis' stem phases through his hat when he tells Millward to write that script and to write like the wind. *During the final shot of Cavis thinking while he's holding the newspaper, the outline of the small books flash. *The bowler hats the shapes had vanished after they passed through the church entrance. *Black dots can be seen in some shots: **One is seen on Cavis' top hat when he tells Millward to look at that poster over there. **Another one can been seen in a millisecond when everyone is on the rocket car smashes through the bakery and the bank. **The next shot can been seen where Cavis loses his top hat after the car passes the cart of hats, but he regains it in the close-up. *After Millward told everyone says,"Hang on!", the rocket car overlap through him. *Outlines on certain characters are missing in some shots: **Cavis' top hat when Millward says, "Cavis, are you okay?" at him. **Millward's tie as he's about to fall down from the seat. *The credits states that all the songs were done by Kurt, but he only did music for two though. *Something flashes on Cavis' top hat when Seymour says, "Yeah, it's right here" at him. Category:ShapeTales